L-TRYPTOPHAN - BIOCHEMICAL, NUTRITIONAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Tryptophan is important both for protein synthesis and as a precursor of niacin, serotonin and other metabolites. Tryptophan is an unusual a mino acid because of the complexity of its metabolism, the variety and importance of its metabolites, the number and diversity of the diseas es it is involved in, and because of its use in purified form as a pha rmacological agent. This review covers the metabolism of tryptophan, i ts presence in the diet, the disorders associated with low tryptophan levels due to low dietary intake, malabsorption, or high rates of meta bolism, the therapeutic effects of tryptophan and the side effects of tryptophan when it is used as a drug including eosinophilia myalgia sy ndrome.